Kochi, Friday 11 February 2011: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived for a two-day visit of the State, was accorded a warm reception at the Naval Airport here on Thursday night.

Dr. Singh, along with his wife, Gurcharan Kaur, arrived here by the Air Force aircraft, Rajkamal, at 9 p.m. They were received at the tarmac by a delegation led by Governor R.S. Gavai and his wife Kamaltai Gavai and Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.

Union Ministers A.K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi, and C.P. Joshi accompanied the Prime Minister. Dr. Singh was accorded a reception at the specially erected pandal by Union Ministers G.K. Vasan, K.V. Thomas, Mullappally Ramachandran, K.C. Venugopal, and E. Ahamed, State Ministers S. Sarma and C. Divakaran, Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy, Mayor Tony Chammany, MPs K.P. Dhanapalan and P.C. Chacko, MLAs V.K. Ibrahim Kunju, Dominic Presentation, K. Babu, and A.M. Yousuf, and district panchayat president Eldhose Kunnappally. Dr. Singh and his delegation then left for Taj Malabar Hotel for overnight stay.

The Prime Minister will leave for the inauguration of the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal by helicopter from the Naval Airport at 9.30 a.m. on Friday. Dr. Singh will attend the hour-long inaugural ceremony before leaving for Thiruvananthapuram from the Naval Airport at 11.35 a.m.

Dr. Singh will inaugurate the country’s first international container transhipment terminal on Vallarpadam Island, near Kochi, on Friday.

(News agency)